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Leon Leitenbauer was not the first foreign exchange student to stay with the Nathlich family. Don and Laura had hosted multiple individuals from Russia, Japan and China, so perhaps German Leon would be similar: the initial awkward culture barriers, followed by the gradual overcoming of a different lifestyle and after finally growing accustomed to an additional member of the family, it would be time to say goodbye. However, this time was different; Leon was to stay an entire 10 months.
In July of last year, Laura received a message from the Center for Cultural Interchange (CCI) and before she knew it, Leon arrived with his suitcases at the Nathlich’s residence in Danville.
Similarly, San Ramon residents Debbie and Simon Thomas, along with their two adopted girls, Rachel, 8, and Sarah, 6, participated in this exchange program by hosting Xiaoyu
Jiang from China. While this was their first time hosting a student from abroad, they both can confidently say that their experience was a positive one.
Since both of their children are originally from China, Simon and Debbie wanted a student who could perhaps provide a connection to their daughters’ heritage.
“It was an interesting way of keeping them in contact with their culture,” Simon said. From the nearly half dozen students that they were given to choose from, the Thomases chose Xiaoyu because of several factors. Debbie had noted her interest in cooking, “and that was a big plus,” she said. Also, Xiaoyu volunteered regularly at an orphanage, so she was comfortable around younger children.
The family was interviewed, accepted and within a couple of months, they were waiting at the airport to welcome Xiaoyu into their home.
Created in 1985, CCI is a non-profit international organization that invites families to host students from all over the world, allows students and adults to travel to various countries for both educative and vocational purposes and also promotes environmental sustainability abroad through its Greenheart program. Currently, CCI spans over 30 countries around the world.
The CCI mission sums up the group’s goal: “to promote cultural understanding, academic
development, environmental consciousness and world peace.” CCI’s Executive Regional Director for the West Lori Tibbett said that the non-profit’s separate Greenheart program distinguishes it from other intercultural exchanges.
“We have this environmentally and socially conscientious component that we want all our students to get involved in,” she said.
While only the Greenheart sector focuses on service, CCI strives to integrate the same ideas into its other cultural programs.
The selection process to host an exchange program is thorough, complete with an application and in-home interview, in order to ensure that the host family can make all the requirements to take care of an international guest. While the students do come with their own spending money, personal belongings and accident and insurance coverage, the host family covers other finances such as boarding, some meals and transportation.
“Most importantly, we expect (the exchange student) to be welcomed into the family,” Tibbet said.
Once the family displays interest in the program, they must undergo an online process followed by a detailed screening.
“Because they host families from over 60 countries, the organization tries to match the students with others who would share similar interests,” Tibbet said. “We accept all types of families — single parents, empty nesters, even single people — we just have to screen them carefully.”
The Nathlichs and the Thomases participated in the academic year program, where they each hosted an international student from August to June of the past year. For some students, depending on the country, they receive a full year’s worth of credit and may continue after their study abroad. For others, this is almost a gap year from their native educational track.
Leon, a sophomore, attended Cal High with Mark Nathlich, a freshman, where he quickly grew to be very popular among the other students.
“He had a way of making friends … he really brightened the day,” Mark said.
Similarly, Amy-Nicole described his personality as “colorful” and “fun-loving.”
Leon ran cross-country with Mark and joined the volleyball team, which helped ease the shift to an American high school. Initially, Leon had anticipated that school would be easier than the European system but the workload exceeded his expectations.
“He was surprised at how challenging and hard school was,” Laura said. “That’s a really common perception that Europeans have.”
One of the differences between the American and German schools was the fact that students travel to their respective classes, as opposed to the teachers switching rooms. Yet despite these changes, Leon seemed to transition smoothly.
Xiaoyu, however, faced a significant challenge upon her arrival: her English was not as fluent as expected. Debbie and Simon both said that her English was supposed to be “acceptable,” according to her profile, although they soon realized that Xiaoyu couldn’t speak English at all, though her writing skills were quite good.
“She was great when you instant messaged her or wrote things, but in terms of having a
conversation, it wasn’t happening,” Simon said.
Nonetheless, her determination throughout the year and her dedication to learn English paid off. Furthermore, her teachers were willing to work extensively with her in order to improve her language skills. She graduated from Doughtery Valley High School with a 4.0 GPA, and will attend college at Michigan State next fall.
“She worked her tail off,” Simon said. “Credit to her for having come over her senior year and end up with A’s in everything.”
Outside of the classroom, though, both Leon and Xiaoyu had eye-opening experiences. The Thomases took multiple trips throughout the state including staying at a beach house in Santa Cruz and a trip to Disneyland. She even had the opportunity to attend a wedding in Connecticut. The Nathlichs, too, extensively toured locally and throughout the state including trips to the California Academy of Sciences and San Francisco as well as Tahoe, Carmel and Yosemite. They were also able to show Leon the Midwest when they traveled to Illinois for Thanksgiving.
After a year, however, the both families found it difficult to say goodbye. Laura recalls scheduling vacation trips the week after he left because she knew how hard it would be.
“We had to get out of the house,” she said.
For Debbie, the shift back to a four-member household was also tough.
“It took us quite a while to not be setting the table and driving her to school,” she said. Simon added that she really became “an older daughter who had just arrived.”
Fortunately for the Thomases, Xiaoyu will be in Michigan, and she won’t be so far away.
Both families plan to visit their exchange students’ homeland within the next few years. The exchange program turned out to be a fulfilling experience for both Xiaoyu and the Thomases, and they have watched her grow immensely throughout the past year.
“It was rewarding to see her develop her English skills. She’s like any other high school kid trying to figure out who she is and what she wants to do,” Simon said.
Both families said that they would definitely partake in an experience like this again. For
Debbie and Thomas, though, they would like to wait until their two daughters are older.
“There was a big age difference in terms of relating to each other,” Simon said. “It’ll be interesting to have an exchange student when there’s less of an age difference.”
Mark said that he hopes to host another student sometime in the future, “but I don’t know if we’ll get anyone like Leon.”
The effect on both the host family and the exchange student has been undeniably transforming, the Thomases and Nathlichs can only recommend that others open their homes to new people, culture and opportunities.
“You have to go into it with an open mind,” Laura said. “But you definitely get more than you give.”
